Altinum: discovering a hidden municipium through GIS, historical research and new excavations

The history and understanding of the ancient municipium of Altinum is lately drawing attention of an increasing number of scholars. In 2016 the Department of Humanities of Ca’ Foscari University started a campaign of archaeological excavations, intended to investigate the urban area of this Roman site. We were able to identify this area through a comparative study between recent and historical cartography: ancient planimetries, cadastral maps, interpretation of old and recent aerial photographs combined with the study of archaeological documents and – in some cases unpublished – manuscripts represent the core of this project. Integrating different types of data is crucial for the aims of our research, and it made possible to identify traces of the archaeological record still hidden under the ground, that have been inserted in a GIS system. We created an archaeological digital map inclusive of data from old and new field works, photo-interpretations, archives, and surveys (such as those conducted by Ca’ Foscari University in 2012 and 2014); this resulted in a simple and interactive tool on cartographic base, collecting all we know about Altinum.